Tray and method of making the same



' July 14, 1936. H, w 2,047,835

TRAY AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Dec. 4, 1934 INVENTOR. 09 blrgfl Pref v 9 3 29 ,98 By W ATTORNEYS.

Patented July 14, 1936 TRAY AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME This invention relates to a tray and has for one of its objects the simplest method of making an effective tray whereby the production thereof may be inexpensively accomplished.

Another object of the invention is the formation of handles in a very simple and inexpensive manner and the securing'of these handles to a portion which goes to make up the tray without the use of solder and at a time before this handle carrying portion is bent into its finished position. Another object of the invention is the provision of a bordering member about the edge of thebase and the attaching of the handles to this bordering member before positioning the border about the base.

Another object of the invention is the formation of fingers on the handles and the riveting of these fingers over a portion of the sheet metal marginal strip of stock which forms the border about the base of the tray.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, as will be more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective'view of the finished tray.

Fig. 2 is a fragmental section taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the marginal edge strip which surrounds the base plate, showing the same in open position, with the base removed.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side View of the strip of material prior to the attachment of the handles thereto.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the handles as attached in position.

Fig. 7 is a section on line 'il of Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of one of the handles before being bent from its blank.

Fig. 9 is a fragmental View illustrating the method of attaching the marginal edge at its corner.

It is frequently desirable to provide a tray which can be made rather inexpensively and yet one in which a variety of difierent appearances can be had; and in order to accomplish this result, I have provided a base consisting of a transparent plate such as a sheet of glass beneath which any suitable ornamental configuration may be placed; and I have provided handles for this base, and at the same time a finishing edge by securing the handles to a strip which is placed about the edge and firmly held in position, the strip being of one piece and detachably held together at its ends by the deflection of one part over the other; and the be accomplished: 10

With reference to the drawing, l0 designates the base which comprises a plate of glass ll, an ornamental sheet I2 which is positioned beneath the transparent plate ll so as to be seen therethrough, a filling piece l3 back of the sheet ll 15 and a backing plate l4 against the back of the filling piece, the last of which is provided with dome-shaped members I5, such as large headed rivets or the like, turned over as at I6 on the inner side of the backing plate I4 to hold them securely 20 in position. These members 15 will be arranged at the four corners inwardly from the edges thereof or at any suitable location to support the tray in slightly spaced relation from the surface on which it is designed to rest.

In order to hold the several parts spaced in assembled position and also provide a suitable edge about the periphery of the base, I have provided a strip, designated II, which is formed somewhat in channel shape, as illustrated in Fig. 4, providing a top wall 19 and a side or edge wall 20.

The base which I have illustrated is of rectangular shape and the top and bottom walls l8 and 19 of this strip are cut out or mitered as at 2|, so that when folded as at 22 to conform to the corners of the base, the mitered portions will abut and form a well-fitting smooth edge, as shown in Figures 1 and 3. At one end of the strip there is provided a finger 24 and at the other end of the strip there is provided a, slot 25 thru which the finger 24 extends and is bent over, as more fully illustrated in Fig. 9, for locking the ends of the strip together at one of the corners of the base.

A handle designated generally 26 is cut out as at 21 and provided with arms 28 from each of which there extends two fingers 29 which are bent at right angles to the arms 28 and are positioned to extend thru slots 30 in the strip I! at suitable locations along its extent, such as the middle of the portion which forms the ends of the tray, as illustrated in Fig. 6. These fingers 29 are bent over as at 3!, see Fig. '7, so as to firmly lock thehandle member in position on the strip. This operation takes place while the strip is in straight form, as illustrated in Fig. 5, and before any ATENT rice bending occurs at the point 22, thus allowing free access into the channel for suitable tools or press operation for clamping the handles firmly in postition. After the handles are thus clamped, the strip is bent at points 22 where the miter occurs so as to shape it around the base it! and the finger 24 is inserted thru a slot 25 and bent backwards upon itself tolock the strip securely in position about the base and at the same time hold the several parts of the base in assembled relation.

By this operation a very simple method of making a trayand a simple method of attaching handles thereto, is provided and yet a tray having" a variety of appearances may be formed by reason of the changes in ornamental pictures or other 7 devices [2 which may be placed beneath the transparent plate II.

The foregoing description is directed towards the method and construction illustrated, but I desir-e it to be understood that I reserve theprivimetallic border to hold the handles firmly in position against said border. I r

2. A tray comprising a base, 'a metallic border about said base having'openings therein, and

.sheet-metalhandles abutting said border and having-protruding arms and integral fingersextending from each of said arms thru said openings and turned over inwardly against the inner surface of said metallic border to hold the handles firmly in position against said border; the, outer free ends of the fingers on each arm being bent over in a direction towards each other.

\ 3. A tray comprising abas'e, a one-piece sheet 10 metal border bent about said base and, remov ably secured and locked at its free ends, handles;

and means integral with the handles for securing said handles to said sheet-metal border.

4. The method of making a tray which comprises the steps of providing a base member, provi'ding a metal strip having afinger of lesswidth than saidrstrip at one end thereof and a. slotted portion at the other end, turning the edge portions of the strip to form continuous side flange portions cutting out miters in said flange .portions at longitudinallyrspaced points along, the

I strip conforming to thecornersofsaid base member; attaching sheet metal handles at suitable locations along the extent of said strip while it is in straight form, bending saidstrip at the mitered portions; and locking the free ends of the strip With said finger extending through the slotted end portion of the opposite end of the strip and folded over the end edge portion thereof todetachably 3 at one end of the corners of the base. vrmavnr A. PREWI'F secure and hold the free ends'of the strip together 

